Two-piece arch support



W D MOORE Feb. 21, 1939.

TWO-PIECE ARCH SUPPORT Filed July 16, 1937 BY 7% a WMKWMATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT] orrlcs TWO-PIECE sacnsurroa'r. William 1 Moore Portsmouth, out Application July 10, 1537, Serial No. 154,01: 2 Claims. (CL sc -11 This invention relates to improvements in shoes and particularly to improvements in the constructionof the intermediate or shank portion of the insolewhich effectively supports the a inner side of the arch of the footin. shoes of the.

orthopedic or corrective type. 3

It has been conventional in the past-to provide the shank portion of the insole with an integral wing extension which bends upwardly to overlap 19 the inner side of the arch of the foot and gives 20 forepart. of the shoe.

In this class of insoles the. wing extension previously referred to, will necessarily becomparatively limp and require some form of reenforcement to give it sufllcient rigidity to enable it to 5 act as an arch support. Unless reenforced the wing would serve only as a wedge-like filler or Pad.

Various methods of providing this reenforcement have been devisedand practiced, but most 30 of them involve a material modification of the ordinary form of the insole which adds greatly to the manufacturing cost, not only because it increases the number of operations in the manufacture of shoes of the orthopedic type, but also 35 because it precludes the possibility of a uniform operation which will, at least in part, apply to both ordinary shoes and those of the orthopedic The principal object of the invention is to pro- 40 vide a simple and inexpensive construction which reinforces the wing extension on an insole of standardconstruction, without altering or changing the structure of the insole.

Other'objects and further advantages of the 45 invention will be more fully apparent from a description of the accompanying drawing, in which! 1 Figure 1 is a plan view of the outer or bottom" as Figure 5 is a section on line 5--5, Figure 3, in-

intermediate portion 3 thereof.

eluding in section a portion of an upper for a welt shoe andan outer sole stitched together and to the insole.

Referring to the drawing, I indicates an insole of conventional construction and pattern out- 5 line, embodying a. wing or lateral extension 2 projecting from the inner-side of the shankor This wing is generally designated by the trade as a cookie and is 'added to the insole tojorm a support for '10 the portion of the arch of the foot which it underlies in the shoe. It usually is of a length substantially equal-to that of the shank portion of the insole, and has a curved outer edge.

In the finished shoe the wing. bends upwardly in a curve to overlap the insideof the upper .4 and embrace a determined area of the inner arch of the foot. It is usually tapered by skiving its under side from a base line in radiating directions in order to provide a feathered outer edge which prevents uneven surfaces which might cause discomfort or even injury to. the

. foot.

The insole is of the conventional type of struc- 'ture now employed in shoes, in which the upper, or upper and welt, are secured together by stitching to a continuous marginal. lip 5, which pro- .lects from the lower side of the insole from the heel breast line forwardly and around the toe.

This conventional insole, requires. the use of leather stockormaterial which will permit one side to be marginally skived or channeled in relatively opposing directions in order to form the pair of companion fins, which, when turned upwardly at right angles or perpendicularly to the plane of the surface of the blank, can be merged to form the continuous lip 5. The surface of the insole encompassed by the lip is usually reinforced or covered with a duck or fabric layer 6, generally adhesively secured to .40

provide a laminated or multiple ply structure.

As it is at present considered desirable to make the forepart of a shoe as flexible as possible, particularly women's shoes, there has been a tendency to skeletonize the forepart of the insole so that heavier grades of material can be employed for increasing the rigidity of'the shank of the shoe. These heavier grades however, cause complications in the manufacture of the shoe and in general have been found rather impractical. For this reason I consider it preferable to use for the insole a thin or pliable stock which has sufiicient body-to permit marginal channeling and provide a solid forepart. The thinner stock however, produces a relatively limpinsole .55

which ordinarily must be reenforced at the shank by a metallic stiffener or plate 1. The use of a shank stiflener is at present a common practice in the manufacture of shoes.

Shank stiifeners having a wing extension or projection for underlying and supporting the wing of the insole have been employed, but their use requires material modification of the conventional insole since it is necessary to keep the section of the lip along the inner margin of the shank unobstructed for stitching. In some instances additional support at the inner side of the arch has been accomplished by laminating the shank portion, or by forming a pocket in which a shank stiffener having an integral wing is imbedded. Such methods so complicate the shoe making operations and so add to the cost that they are impractical in the manufacture of a reasonably priced product.

The present improvement utilizes the conventional structure of insole, having a wing or extension on the inner side of the shank. but provides reinforcement for the wing by a plate I of flexible metal or other suitable material. The plate underlies the wing and has a correspondingly curved edge, which the wing slightly overlaps to cover or shield it. The plate should be of a width which brings its inner edge to a point approximately adjoining the outer side 01'. the inner section of the lip I and the inner edge of the plate should conform in outline to the contour of the lip. The body of the plate I may be preshaped so that it will fit the contour of the foot or last, for the region of the foot that it is designed to support. The plate preferably should be rigid longitudinally and flexible laterally.

The plate preferably is permanently secured or anchored to the insole by an extension such as a pair of tongues or prongs ilii extending laterally from its inner edge at the opposite longitudinal extremities. The tongues or prongs extend transversely across the width of the insole, traversing the base of the inseam lip through slits cut for this purpose. The free ends or teranemia minals of the prongs are fixed to the insole by rivets II, or other means of fastening.

The slitting of the lip forinsertion of the prongs causes no appreciable weakening of the lip, particularly when the fore and shank portion of the insole are of laminated construction, in which case. as shown in the illustrations, the prongs lie or are imbedded between the plies and do not penetrate the fabric layer I which has its margins overlapping the inner side or the lip to which it is secured adhesively. The flexing of the plate presses the wing I snugly against the last. The plate is formed of thin sheet material and, therefore, does not interfere with the lasting and stitching operations.

Attaching the plate to the insole is a very simple and inexpensive operation requiring no modiilcation or alteration of the conventional construction of the insole. As a result of this a single line of shoes can be made either with or without the orthopedic feature by inserting or omitting the wing reinforcing plate. When the plate is omitted, the wing, in a limp condition, is functionless, merely adding a ply or lining section to the position of the upper adjacent to it.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a shoe having an inseam lip, an insole having a wing extending from the inner side of the shank portion of the shoe to provide support for the arch of the foot of the wearer, and a metal plate underlying and supporting the wing, the plate provided with attaching prongs which extend from it through both sides of the inseam lip and are attached to the insole adjacent to its outer margin.

2. In a shoe, an insole having a wing extending from .the innerside of the shank portion thereof to provide support for the arch of the foot of the wearer, and a metal plate underlying and supporting the wing, the plate provided with attaching prongs extending therefrom and passing through the inseam lips of the insole at th underside of the insole. 1 WILLIAM D. MOORE. 

